A Rejection
by ALargeBear
Summary: Chika gets a letter and Dia helps her through it.


The torn open letter in Chika's hand fluttered in a stiff ocean breeze as she sat at the end of a familiar dock. Waves crashed under her, and cool water brushed the soles of her feet. The warm sun hung high, locals walked along the beach as they always did, and birds flew overhead with their obnoxious calls. A moment so similar to hundreds of happy memories in her past. Maybe it was a bad idea after all.

She desperately tried to rub the tears from her eyes, but they wouldn't stop. It distorted the sunlight and made it hard to make out anything as she looked down at the letter. Chika couldn't read it through the cries, but she knew what it said. How could she forget **?**

 _We're sorry to inform you that your application has been rejected._

Rejected.

Chika knew from the start not to get her hopes up. She applied to one of the most rigorous universities in the country. She didn't apply anywhere else, much to everyone's disapproval, but there wasn't any other option. Sure, a local college not too far from her home would have been a sure thing. A bland future, but a productive one. All the teachers said it was unwise to not have a backup, but they didn't understand. None of those other schools had Dia.

It was dumb. To put so much of your future on some high school romance only a year strong, but Chika didn't care. She never saw herself in a place like a college. So much studying and learning things that never would be all too useful. She'd resigned herself to taking over the family business. An honest and normal life she could be happy with. Fitting of someone so simple is what she would always tell herself.

Aqours wasn't enough to change those ambitions. Dia was.

They'd been apart for only a handful of weeks before Chika followed. Dia, who'd been accepted on a recommendation put up as much resistance as she could. "You don't have to push yourself. We'll be together no matter what." Dia told her all of that, but Chika felt the distance as time went on, and she knew Dia did too.

Success was some far-off dream at first. The books and printouts Dia gave her were filled with symbols and gibberish she'd never seen before. It filled long weekends with nothing but studying with the occasional break sprinkled in. Her head hurt, confidence wavered, and mood plummeted.

Dia's encouragement made it all start to feel like a dream that could be reached. Late night texts filled with cheerful motivation and answers to questions before Chika would ask. Quick meetings on weekends as Dia found time in her busy schedule. Confidence was beginning to be built. Maybe hope if Chika allowed it.

Chika's grades got better. The first time in her life she could remember placing in the top five of her class so consistently. Those indecipherable books from before now could be read front to back with only a bit of help.

Her hard work started paying off. It all seemed like the first struggles with Aqours. A strong want to quit overpowered by a will to push forward. Things work out when you try hard enough. Chika repeated that mantra so many times in the past year. Why would this situation be any different? If she put her head down and did the work good things would come. That's how things were supposed to work.

No one else had seen the letter yet, but to her running wasn't an option. Dia was going to meet her on the dock. She couldn't hide. The shame, disappointment, and sadness were all hers to bear.

Deliberate and strong footsteps pounded across the rickety, wooden dock. Chika knew it was Dia. Her sleeves already covered in a mixture of tears, sweat, and snot that didn't do any good as she tried to wipe her eyes once again. Her throat burned and body shook. All she could do was cover her face and look down.

Dia kept quiet as she sat down, shoulder to shoulder with Chika. Chika struggled to get a full breath. Dia's presence made the disappointment too much. An agonizing silence filled the gap between them. It lasted a few minutes, but Chika would swear it was an eternity. Deep and ragged breathing couldn't be kept in check.

"Can I read the letter?"

Chika crumpled the paper and jammed it in her jacket pocket before reburying her face. All while shaking her head.

More silence. This one filling Chika with dread. Dia's voice had been calm, and her body warm as always, but she couldn't indulge. She hadn't earned the right.

"Can you look at me?"

Chika shook her head again.

"You know this doesn't change anything, Chika," Dia said, without any hint of insincerity. "We'll still be together, and I still love you. Just because things didn't work out, doesn't change any of that."

"But." Chika's voice was hoarse and gripped by sobs. "But I got rejected."

"I know."

"I tried so hard." Chika kept her face covered. "You spent so much time helping me and I let you down."

"You didn't let me down." Dia put a hand on Chika's stiff back, her voice a whisper.

"Yes, I did." The sobs were louder, the shaking more violent as Chika went on. "I messed everything up."

Dia's hand slid from Chika's back to around her waist, but she couldn't pull in. "You did your best. I know you did. That's not something to be ashamed of, even if things didn't work out as we hoped."

Chika slid her hands down her face, wincing at the sudden burst of sunlight. The crying wouldn't stop, and she couldn't look at Dia. "If I would have tried harder I bet I would have gotten accepted. Or maybe if I wasn't so dumb."

"Don't blame yourself, please." Dia bit her lip, she couldn't afford tears to come now. She had to be strong. "I think you tried hard enough, and I'm very proud of you."

"You're not disappointed?" Chika asked, looking up to Dia with blood-red eyes and cheeks coated in a sheen of tears and sweat.

"How could I be?" Dia kept her voice low as she answered, licking her dry lips as she saw Chika's broken face. A sight she would make sure she never saw again. "When you first told me you were applying to my university, I thought it was another one of your poorly thought out plans you wouldn't stick with."

Chika didn't speak up, she couldn't, but found comfort in the gentle hand on her waist and sweet whispers in her ear. Without thought, she rolled her head onto Dia's shoulder and stared out at the bright ocean. It looked exactly as it did in all of those older, happier memories.

"But then I watched how hard you worked, and how much this meant to you," Dia continued. "It was like when you started Aqours, and I knew this meant so much to you. It made me understand how much you love me."

"Don't I always tell you?" Chika asked, wiping her face clean on Dia's shoulder as the last stray tear fell.

Dia nodded. "But I know how much you hate studying. So to watch you put in so much effort to be with me made me understand that we'd get through this whether you got in or not. We love each other so much. A little bit of distance isn't going to get in the way."

Chika closed her eyes and unclenched her jaw for the first time all afternoon. Her free hand reached across her body. Dia knew what she wanted and did the same, interlocking their fingers.

Dia planted a kiss to the top of Chika's head. "Everything will be okay."


End file.
